


Glass of Shadows

by The_Virtual_Warlock



Category: Warframe
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-23
Updated: 2020-09-22
Packaged: 2021-03-06 20:34:52
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,326
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26065069
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/The_Virtual_Warlock/pseuds/The_Virtual_Warlock
Summary: 2 years after your encounter with Excalibur Umbra, Ordis has detected yet another Umbral Warframe. The signal's origin comes from the Plains of Eidolon, and weirdly enough, its frequency is vibrating from... a glassed Eidolon? But you're not the only one who heard the glass signal; Nihil, The Glassmaker has waited for that signal for hundreds of years, a signal that his creation, his mirror, is alive and well.
Kudos: 4





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Echovous](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Echovous/gifts).



**PLAINS OF EIDOLON, 4 HOURS AFTER SUNFALL**

A lone Eidolon Terralyst slowly marched on the vibrant plains its once-whole-and-powerful form was shattered, it marched without intelligence, without purpose. On a normal night, it would try to survive against the Tenno and their Warframes that sought its Sentient Cores and Eidolon Shards, or any Arcanes it may have picked up on any other night; but not tonight, tonight was different, tonight was quiet, tonight was too quiet. It looked around to see if it missed anything, a single Chroma or Oberon Prime looking for their big score, or an inexperienced Excalibur, Mag, or Volt looking for stuff to do, but there was nothing in sight.

Then, it felt something. That thing was a liquid like water, viscous like thick Grokdrul, and hot. Very VERY hot! This feeling started at its shallow heels, rising up its legs, squeezing them into oblivion. From a distant yet foreign memory, it knew what this feeling was: Glass, being glassed. It turned around, looking at the ground in fear as the glass clenched up its butt and slowly froze the hips. The Eidolon fell to the ground, and it finally saw who the assailant was: In another life, this Warframe alone had glassed the Sentient known as Ourobous, the Ship-Cleaver, and that Sentient lost her whole body to the rock of the Earth, and her soul to the glass of the first Gara: Gara Umbra. Like Ourobous, The Umbral Gara was supposedly splintered on that night, splintered into pieces to be cloned by the Ostrons and Tenno; but tonight the Eidolon learned the dreadful truth: Umbra didn't die, not completely. 

And now she is free!

* * *

**THE ORBITER, 1 HOUR LATER**

Ship Cephalon Ordis wakes you from your deep sleep, "Operator? Are you awake?"

You sigh, "What now, Ordis? My Forma isn't due for another 4 hours!"

"Sorry, Operator," Ordis quickly apologizes, "But it's not your foundry I wish to inform you about. It's another Umbral Trace."

Rubbing your head as you pick yourself up from your bed/couch, you ask him, "Say that again? Another Umbral Trace? Did Umbra escape and go on another murderous rampage?"

"No, Excalibur Umbra has remained on this ship the whole night. I must say," Ordis giggled like a young girl, "he's quite the janitor and a fantastic cook!" 

Your mind races with a scenario, one that sounds too good to be true: _Could there be another Umbra? Like Excalibur, but of a different build and design?_ Standing up, you announce, "Ordis, we must send a landing craft at once! Tell Umbra to get his Skiajati and Shedu, we're leaving immediately."

"But Operator," your ship Cephalon cries out, "What about breakfast!? Umbra cooked Charc eel bacon with Condroc eggs and Rosam Red spices! And you know what they always say: A Tenno's day starts with a happy and rousing breakfast!"

"Can I take it to go?"

Ordis sighs, "Your knack for adventure and willingness to get back into the field is overwhelming my precepts. I suppose you can."

"Thanks, Ordis!"

* * *

**ELSEWHERE...**

A middle-aged Orokin male figure slept in his golden chambers, the pulsing energy of Endo ran through the pipes, even though everything around him was broken, shattered, and in shambles. For him, it was enough to be called a home. He woke and sniffed the air, "Something feels different," he said in his prismatic voice, "Something feels...perfect. Have I glassed another sinful soul in my sleep?" He sniffed the air again, "No, I didn't perfect anyone. My beautiful creation has!" The Orokin sighed with relief to himself, "Oh Nihil, my precious Gara is still alive!" Nihil, the Glassmaker, the Golden Vindicator, rubbed his hands together in maniacal anticipation. "My Umbral Gara is alive, and when I take control of her again, I can finish perfecting the Origin System!"


	2. Glass on the Plains

**THE PLAINS OF EIDOLON, 6 HOURS AFTER THE INCIDENT**

You land directly onto the Eidolon Plains with Excalibur Umbra, the sun rising above the old Orokin tower protecting Cetus. As you make your way across the yellow-green plains and approach the large Gara Toht Lake, the same lake where the ancient Sentient fell from the sky and into the Earth for eternity, you see something strange. "An Eidolon on the surface? And just before dawn? How-" Curiosity overtakes your mind as you race to the lake, Umbra bullet jumps rapidly across streams, over rocks and small hills, finally landing near the Eidolon. It laid there, completely motionless, almost dead. You transfer out of Excalibur and inspect the Eidolon, just as the radiant sunlight peered over the tower and hit the Eidolon, refracting through its entire body. "Glassed!?" you shout, "How has this Eidolon been glassed completely!?"

Ordis replies, "I don't know, Operator. But that is the source of the signal. Do you think this the work of a rogue Gara?"

"Maybe," you touch the glass on your own and back away, your hand feels as cold as ice. "Ouch! That's cold!"

Umbra bullet jumps to the top of the Sentient structure buried in the lake, balancing himself with one foot on a circular horn like the ninja he was. Through his synthesis scanner, Excalibur investigates the surroundings of the lake, looking for anything to identify this new glassmaker and where they were going. "Umbra," you call out, "Do you see any more glints of glass, maybe a few hundred meters away from here?" He nods, but perfectly balanced as he could be on a small surface, Excalibur felt the rock crumble beneath his toes, then felt the air replace the rock as the entire horn shattered and crumbled into the lake. He bullet jumps to the shore, but his toes dug into the soggy sand and shallow water. "UMBRA! Are you okay!?" He stands up perfectly, not a visible scratch or shock on him. "That water... it didn't shock you. Why?" Umbra shrugged, for he didn't have a clue either.

If Ordis could shrug, he would, "I don't know about that lake, but I don't think we should waste any more time here."

"Agreed, we need to find those clues and their trail. I doubt this will be their last glassing."

The Ship Cephalon sighed, "As you wish, Operator..."

You transfer back into Umbra and return to the glassed Eidolon, trying to discern where the assailant went. "No visible tracks, but...wait!" You stare at the ground, looking at a strange crystalline formation filling in a footprint. Umbra crouches down and picks up the formation, lifting it to his eye level and straightening his back again. The Sun's dawning light gleamed through the clear and smooth crystalline, revealing it as more glass. In contrast to other glasses, the light inverted itself into golden shadow rays inside this glass footprint, exuding the internal shadows. "Glass that inverts light?" you ask aloud, "How could this happen?" In response, Excalibur drew his Umbral Exalted Blade and held it up to the light, lifting his head so that you can see the light invert itself through the Blade with his eyes. "Aha! That makes sense!"

Ordis was confused, "What does?"

You explain to the Cephalon, "Umbra's Exalted Blade inverts light rays, and this glass does the same! Ordis, we're not looking for just any Gara. We're looking for Gara Umbra!"

"Operator," Ordis was a bit concerned, "The last time you tried taming an Umbra, you --almost died!--"

"This time will be different," you declare, "This time, I have Excal-"

Something erupted from the ground, interrupting your statement. You turn to face the eruption of dirt and Grokdrul across the lake, and spot a ghastly Grineer Ghoul covered in mangled flesh and metal armor, just as it belted out a reverberating roar. "Ordis!" you shout, "We have company! The undead kind!"

"Understood, Operator. Head back to Cetus, we'll extract there."


	3. The Cursed Quill

**UNKNOWN PLANE OF EXISTENCE**

Nihil walked on his gold-lined glass floors as they materialized under his feet, simulating the ground, grass, and trees of the Eidolon Plains, the amber glassy sky slowly reflected and split into large triangles over him as it reached dawn. To any normal person, this would be considered as 'weird' or 'obscene', but Nihil only saw beauty and perfection in the sharp creases of the crystalline glass. He approached the glassed Eidolon and touched it with his bare hand, _Warm, fresh._ He retracted his hand as his porcelain lips formed a very sadistic grin, _My beautiful creation has not gone too far._

* * *

**CETUS**

Onkko was given the powers of The Quills on one random day in the Plains of Eidolon, a random swim in the Gara Toht Lake. As day turned to night, Onkko felt the slight sting of electricity pass through his fingers and quickly swam to shore. Though try as he might, every arm stroke and leg kick that propelled him also strengthened the stings into magnetic bites, and with one arm digging into the sand, he felt his eyesight invert. His wife, Saya had seen Onkko from a nearby hill slope rushed to him with a towel and pulled him out of the water. He saw nothing after drying off, the lights and colors of the Earth had completely evaporated from his sight as warmth returned to him, and he never got them back unless he dreamed. When he did, they were often nightmares, predictions of timelines where Cetus was wrecked by either the Grineer or the Eidolons, predictions that left him awake and breathless. A few weeks later, he faked his death and hid Konzu's iron flower in a shatter lock vault, leading to the only good future for not just him and Saya, but for all of Cetus. All that happened 5 years ago and his visions slowly improved their tone... until today.

Onkko looks up from his table of gifted Void Amps and Sentient parts, his blind eyes slowly shot up to you, "Ahh, Tenno. You are an instrument most perfect for the Unum. Tell me, what brings you in today?"

"I need to know about Gara, the original that took down the Sentient."

The Quill looked stunned for an instant, "The original? But wasn't she..." He stops and closes his eyes, a foggy vision from last night metaphysically slaps his face, "Oh! The glassed Eidolon!" He nods once, "Yes, that is the original Gara's work." Onkko tilts his head and stares at you sternly, "But why do you want to know?"

You hesitate with your answer, unsure if Onkko wants to know what you saw. "I had a dream, 3 over the course of 18 months, each one of them was disturbing. The last one was of Gara glassing the Eidolon, something that even Nihil couldn't do."

Onkko nods, "Yes, the limits of a megalomaniac murderer relying on old techniques. And what of your first two dreams?"

"I saw... I was in... a Sentient Throne Room of sorts. The Lotus..." you pause, memories of bliss and betrayal fill your mind, overwhelming you with emotions of sadness, defeat, anger, rage, love, and hate. You correct yourself, "Natah was there, conversing with Ballas, and Erra."

Onkko face pinged with fear, though his mask didn't reveal it. "Continue."

"They talked about 'reformation' and 'Condrixes'. Ballas was their slave, reassuring them that a 'Golden Spear' was nothing more than a myth now and that the Origin System is fighting amongst ourselves." The Quill nods as you continue, "They're planning an invasion... and they knew I was listening! As soon as they knew, Natah sang mechanically and launched me back, and my vision blurred!"

Onkko widened his eyes, and you could see the sides of his face stretch out in response, "This happened twice to you?"

You shake your head, "No, my second dream depicted a different conversation. I don't remember it completely, but Natah was thrown into the Throne at the end, and it sounded like she was in pain."

The Quill sighs, "So he moves again... maybe that's why Gara awoke from her slumber?"

"Maybe, but can you find her?"

Onkko closes his eyes again, "She is far away, looking for something."

"Like what? Answers? Reasons? Or weapons?"

He nods, "All of them. Find her, Tenno. Find her quickly!"

You depart from Onkko's room and transfer back into Excalibur Umbra. "Ordis, perform a scan on umbral glass traces again."

The Ship Cephalon wore a worried voice, "But Operator, as I told you before, this could be dangerous. Umbral Warframes are rare and incredibly dangerous, more so because they are insane and independent! You saw how your Umbra was before you tamed him!"

"Leveled with him," you correct, "Excalibur is not a beast, though he acted like one at first. He needed someone to understand, to be on similar ground. Gara will be similar."

"But you have a crafted Amp, the Paracesis, Umbra, even the Shedu arm cannon! Why must you hunt down Gara too!?" 

"We need all the help we can get, Ordis," you bite back, "Erra is going to start another invasion soon, we don't know when that could be, and anyone that can strip Sentient Adaptivity is our top priority for recruitment. Plus, if we recruit Gara Umbra, she won't have to worry about hiding."

Ordis sighs, "Fine, --but don't say I didn't warn you!--"

* * *

Nihil treads with one single step in his glassy plane, and suddenly he was on a different planet. The Corpus imagery and iconography coupled with the orange gaseous sky outside the windows could only indicate one place in the Origin System: Alad V's Gas City in Jupiter's atmosphere. Nihil thought to himself, _The only way to find my precious creation is to lure her out of hiding, and this place has the perfect bait!_ The Glassmaker raises a hand to face a Sentient Research laboratory, grinning menacingly as he opens his palm towards it, opening all of its doors. He turned his palm skyward and crooked his finger, begging the Sentients inside to come out and play.


End file.
